Gazetta Italia! Donald Trump and Silvio Berlusconi

Donald Trump’s election to the US presidency took many by surprise, writes Tom Alberto Bull. But of course the Italians have seen this sort of thing before, in the form of Silvio Berlusconi…

Back to the future

Here in the UK, Donald Trump’s rise to the White House took everyone by surprise. His background in business and new brand of anti-establishment politics was such a drastic change from the status quo that it was unknown territory. But it wasn’t quite so unexpected over in Italy – they’ve seen it all before.
Silvio Berlusconi was a prominent figure long before his introduction to politics. He was a media mogul who made a vast fortune as the controlling shareholder of one of Italy’s most popular terrestrial channels, Mediaset. His fame can largely be attributed to his ownership of the hugely successful AC Milan football club, which he acquired back in 1986 and recently sold to a Chinese consortium in a deal estimated to be worth €740m.

The parallels between the two men really are striking. As with Trump, Berlusconi’s initial entry into politics was roundly greeted with derision. Yet he went on to become the country’s third-longest serving leader with his political party, Forza Italia. He completely transformed the debate, painting himself as an outsider and refusing to conform to the traditional ideas of political correctness.

Both men have faced accusations of misogyny having been directly implicated in sex scandals. Trump was unaware that he was being recorded as he made some inadvisable (to say the least) comments about women’s behaviour around famous celebrities. For Berlusconi it was a regular occurrence throughout his tenure, culminating in the infamous ‘Bunga-Bunga’ parties and a very public court case with a young Moroccan nicknamed ‘Ruby the Heartstealer’.

They have both faced battles with the law surrounding aspects of their business, including tax evasion. They share a talent for spinning the story to make it seem like a positive move, one that should be applauded. Berlusconi’s eventual conviction for tax fraud in 2013 seemed to mark the end of his political career, a final nail that he couldn’t recover from.

Berlusconi was surrounded by controversy throughout his tenure, with strongly divided opinions on either side of the political spectrum. Many people remained fiercely loyal to him, championing him as a true voice of the people. Others saw him as hugely incompetent and deeply corrupt, potentially tarnishing the excellent reputation and cultural influence of Italy around the world. One feels that America is heading down a similar path, but there’s certainly a lot they can learn from the Italian blueprint of the last 20 years.